Clamp for connecting angularly-arranged pieces of material



Sept. 18, 1923.

J. W. KEFFER CLAMP FOR CONNECTING ANGULARLY ARRANGED PIECES OF MATERIALFiled June 14 1922 Patented Sept. 18, 1 923;

* ans 1 s a, create! JQSEPH WFKEFFER, OF NEVJARK, NEW JERSEY. v

Application filed J une 14, m2. Serial no. 568,152.

v e To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSE-PH Knrrnn, a citizen of the United States, andaresident of Newark, in thecounty of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented new and use- ,ful Improvements in Clamps for ConnectingAngularly-Arranged Pieces ofMaterial, of which the following is aspecification.

One object of this invention is to provide a'clamp for connecting orjoining pieces of ,1 material at angles to each other without-the use ofnails, b0lts, screws or similar fastening memberaand. more particularlyto pro vide a clamp; of this character for connect.

the ledgers or horizontal pieces to the uprights, poles, or standards ofscaffolds and the like, wherebythe time consumed in erect ing andremoving-Ia scafioldli's reduced and the lumber saved from injury sothat it can be repeatedly used.

Anotner object of the invention is to provide aclamp of the characterdescribed with which the weight of the horizontal piece or ledgerautomatically-actuates the clamp so that the saidhorizontal piece isforced i tightly into frictional engagement with and supportedupon thevertical piece or pole.

Further objectsare to provide a clamp including a member to bemountedjon one of the piecesto be connected, and lever mecha nismmounted on said member and adapted to be interposed between the piecesbeing connected so that movement of the other of said pieces in onedirection longitudinally of the first-mentioned piece 1 actuates thelever mechanism to force said-second-mentioned piece into tightengagement with the first-mentioned piece; to provide such a clampincluding amember to bemounted onan upright or pole, and lever mechanismmounted on said member and adapted to engage at oneend the upright andto receive at its other end a horizontal pieceor ledger s0 thatthe,weight of said horizontal piece actuates said lever mechanism to'clampsaid horizontal piece between the upright and the lever mechanism andsupport said horizontal piece on said upright and restrain movement ofsaid horizontal 'pieceflaterally away from said upright; to provide sucha clamp whichjis simple, inexpensive and durable in construction, andwhich can be easily and quickly operated, and to obtain other resultsandajdvantages as mayflbe brought out by the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

"ciples of invention, I

the same parts throughout the several views,

F igure 1 is a, side elevation of a clamp embodying my invention,showing the manner of using the same;

V Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, and

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 33 ofFigure 1. i

For the purpose of illustrating the prinhave shownthe same embodied in aclamp for connecting a ledger or horizontal piece to the pole vor uprlght of a scafiold. Thereference character A designates a memberadapted to be secured to the pole B andsupport a lever mechanism C whichclamps the ledgerD against the pole B. The member A is preferably formedof metal and U-shaped so as to be capable of slipping'over the pole Bfrom one side thereof, and the extremities of the arms of said memberare hooked as at 1. i

v The lever mechanism (1 comprisesa pair of levers 2 arranged in spacedand parallel relation on a shaft 3 which is adapted to be inserted inthe hooked ends 1 of the memher A. Thesaid levers 2 are secured togetherat one end by a transverse bar 4 which is adapted to engage the pole B,and are connected at their other ends by a bolt 5. A link 6 has one endthereof bifurcated with the arms of the bifurcation pivotally connectedto the bolt 5 adjacent the levers 2, and the other end of said link ispivotally connected by a 'bolt 7 to another link or member 8 whichreceives theledger D. The said member 8 may be in the form of a bar 9having a pair of plates 10 secured to op-- posite sides thereof andreceiving between them the end of the link 6. Said bar 9 also has oneend thereof bent at an angle, as indicated at 11.

In connecting a ledger D to a pole B, the member A is applied to'thepole at the ele vation which it is desired to place the ledger, Theshaft'3 is then placed inthe hooked ends 1 of the member A and the bar4t brought into engagement with the pole B. The member 8 isxthen swungoutwardly from the pole B on the link 6 a distance suflicient to permitthe ledger D to be placedbetween said member Sand the pole, as indicatedby dot and dash lines in Figure 1. The ledger is then placed upon theend 11 of the member 8 and allowed to fall by gravity. As the ledgerdescends, its weight draws the memin which like numerals of referenceindicate her 8 downwardly andinwardly toward the pole B and swings thebar i connecting the levers 2 against the pole B, it being understoodthat movement of the levers 2 is liniof the 4 j B and ledger D, the saidbar and mempoles and ledgers.

ited by engagement of the bar iwith the pole. The'ledger is thussecurely clan'iped between the pole and the member 8, and the .moreweight placed upon the ledger, the tighter will be the clamping thereo'tagainst her 8 are preferably provided with pointed projections 12 and13, respectively, which bite into the pole and ledger.

In order to remove the ledger from the pole, it'is merely necessary toraise the ledger vertically along the pole, which tends to swing thelink 6 outwardly ,and relieves the pressure onthe ledger. It will beobserved that the device is adapted for use within certain limits withvarious sizes of The clamp enables scatfolding to be easily and quicklyerected and removed without in any way injuring the V lumber of whichthe scaffolding is built and and a pair of pivotally connected links onethe lumber can thus be repeatedly used.

WVhile I have shown and described a clamp for use in building scaffolds,it will be understood that the invention is capable of use for otherpurposes, and that the details of, construction ofthe clamp can bemodified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Therefore,l do not desire to be understood as restrictingmyself in the" construction and use of the invention, except as requiredby the following claims when construed in the light ofthe prior art. 7

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is: V

' 1. A clamp for joining pieces of timber or the like, including amember adapted to be applied to one of a plurality of pieces'of materialto be joined, a lever pivotally mounted between its ends on said memberand formed at one end to engage one of pieces oi timber, and a secondmember having oneend pivotally connected to one end of said lever andthe other end formed to en a piece of timber.

2. A clamp for joining pieces of timber or the like, including amemberadapted to beapplied to one of a plurality of pieces of materialto be joined, a lever pivotally mounted between its ends on said member,

end of one of which is pivotally connected to one end of said leverandthe otherend connected, a lever of the other of saidlinks being adaptedto engage another of said pieces of material to be joined. i

3. A clamp for joining pieces of timber or the like, including asubstantially U- shapedmember adapted to be applied to one or aplurality of pieces of material to be pivotally mounted between its endson said U-shaped member and havingone end'tormed to'engage one of saidpieces of thinner, and a pair of pivotally connected links one end ofone of which is 'pivotally connected to the other end of said leverwhile the other end of the other of said links is formed to'engage a.piece of timber.

4. A clamp for connecting a horizontal piece of material'to anupright,'incliiding a lever, means for p votally mounting sa d lever onsaid upright piece so that one end of a d lifengages said upright, and-amember connected at one end to SEud lQVeI' and adaptedto receive saidhorizontal piece between its other end and said upright piece,

5. A clamp for connecting a horizontal piece of material to an uprightor vertical piece, including a lever, means for pivotally mounting saidlever intermediate its ends, 7

upon said upright piece sothat oneend of said lever engages saidupright, and a member pivotally connected at one end tov the other endof said lever and adapted to receive said horizontal piece betweenitsother .end and said upright.

6. A clamp for connecting a horizontal piece of material to an upright,including aone side thcreol and embrace the same, the

arms of said member being formed with hooked endsto receive'said pivotmeans of said lever with one end ofsaidlever'engaging said upright, anda 'member pivotally connectel to the other end of said lever and adaptedto receive said horizontalpiece between itself andsaid upright.

8. A clamp for connecting a horizontal piece of material to' an u'oright, including" j eve me ns or. n v ly moun g said lever on saidupright piece so that one end of said lever engages said upright, a linkpi-votally connected at one end to thefother end of said level, and amember 'pivotally connetced to the other end of said'link and adapted toreceive said horizontal piece be- I V tween itselfand said upright. V

V 9. A clamp for connecting a horizontal piece of, material to anupright, including 5 a lever, means for pivotally mounting said -leveron said upright piece so that one end of said lever engages saidupright, a link pivotally connected at one end to the other end of saidlever, and a memberpivotally 1 connected to the other end of said linkand adapted to be'arranged substantially parallel to said upright toreceive said horizontal piece between itself and said upright.

10. A' clamp for connecting a horizontal being formed with a projectionextending toward said upright to support said hori- 25 zontal piece.

JOSEPH w. KEF'FER.

